Do you think fat people should pay for two seats on a plane?

Question

With reference to the recent news item where a guy is sueing air france for making him pay for two seats.
Has anyone had any bad experience where a fat person sitting next to them has invaded thier space?

If the airlines made bigger seats then there would be less of them and we'd have to pay more.
Why should we pay more because other people are greedy and lazy

Phish is obviously a fat bloke.. Merry Xmas Phish

Answer 1

yeah,. I think your mother should have to pay for two seats...

ooooooooooooooo!!!

jk

I freiken hate it when fat sweaty people sit next to me,.. and frieken ooze over the armrest onto me,... thats fucked up.. no two ways about it,...

maybe they need to make the seats biggr or something,. and charge more for seats like that to accomidate,. cuz its not fair to me or others who have to deal with that $hit.

If anyone thinks its okay,.. then i am buying a sumo outfit,.. wearing it on the next flight,.. and am going to oze over onto you,. sexually molesting you at any convenince and blame it on the sixe of the seat and not my fat $$...

Answer 2

There are 2 issues here - weight adds to the fuel burn of the plane, which adds to the cost of the ticket, so people well above the average weight should pay more, just as you have to pay more if you take too much baggage. The second issue is space - if someone is so fat that they impinge on the next seat, they should pay more - otherwise either their neighbour gets squashed or everyone else has to pay more to subsidise the empty seat. It's not discrimination it's economics - the same reason that a family of 4 pay more than 2 and it costs more to fly to more distant destinations.

Answer 3

I can understand the humiliation for the Fat Person in question, but they do take up more space, and i've known them complain about being uncorftable in narrow seats. Also airlines calculations need to be fairly precise to allow fuel consumption and balance calculations. I somone is inordinatly overwieght then they mess up the estimate used to work out a persons wieght. I think and additional seat should be provided at additional cost to the passenger but based on the popularity of the flight if the plane is empty a smaller charge could be levied than if the flight was full.

Answer 4

In theory, yes, but this would be very difficult to enforce. I understand the airlines would love to charge more as it takes more fuel to move a heavier person from Point A to Point B but are we going to end up with scales at the check-in gate? I think if you are so large that you do not fit into one seat and spill into your neighbor's seat, you should buy two tickets but I think it should be the responsibility of the traveller, too, to measure themselves and see if they are going to fit on the plane.

FWIW I fly a LOT and my worst experiences with people invading my space have all been with people of average weight who insisted on either fighting for the armrest or stretching legs into my space or generally being inconsiderate. I've sat next to fat people a number of times and in general they are pretty aware of the space that they take up; one guy was squeezing himself up to the wall as far as he could so that he wouldn't be even a fraction of an inch into my territory. Unlike the man that sat next to me when I came back from Orlando a few weeks back and acted like he owned the whole plane.

So if the arguement is because of the extra fuel costs, I am all for it if you can find a way to enforce it, but if it's for space invasion reasons, well, most of the space invaders I've encountered are not fat, just obnoxious.

Answer 5

I have done reservations before for many years. Heavy people usually like to purchase 2 seats. If not and there is an extra seat, if asked by the heavy person, the flight attendant will rearrange the seating for the heavy person to have another seat next to him. That is why some airlines have armrests that do not come up.

Answer 6

Yes, they do spill over the armrest which you have to insist on keeping down otherwise you would have only 1/2 of your seat. They also have great difficulty keeping their bulk on their side when eating.

I was also was on one plane where when a passenger complained to Airhostess as the overweight lady's husband was also on the plane, but he had booked himself into a different row and refused to sit next to her.

You never know it may make them think twice about their health!

Yes they should pay for two seats or travel in Business or first where they can be accomodated.

I bet they do not take less hand luggage to counteract their weight,

Answer 7

I agree with Myndlynd T. Very large people should only have to pay half the price. I am going to take a trip on a plane. Is their a website that has all the airport maps in the USA or just some. I am Borderline Mentally Challenged and I got lost before switching planes. Email me if you have some kind of answer. Thank You!

Answer 8

N,o the airline should provide seat for the larger person.
It`s ridiculous the room any passenger has .I am an ordinary
size guy and i am squashed on some aeroplanes so why
not give us all more room and have larger seating for
the bigger person ?They wont because the more they
pack in the bigger profits so will not slag the bigger people.

Answer 9

Southwest Airlines in the US has a reasonable policy on this. If you are not able to fit into one seat, then you must purchase two. If there are seats left empty when the plane leaves, then this second seat is refunded. That way, it ensures everybody's safety and comfort, and the airline loses no money.

Answer 10

If they splodge over onto the next seat then I think they should pay more. It's very unfair on whoever sits next to them. I'm not fattist but some places just cannot accomodate larger people. However, perhaps airlines shouldn't try to cram so many seats onto planes and then all seats could be wider. More and more people are larger these days so perhaps this is something that will happen in time...

Answer 11

There is very little room on planes as it is I'm 6 foot tall and find it very cramped! what do you pay for with a flight!? A SEAT! and that is what you should get if your FAT and need 2 seats you should pay for them! i went to Oslo earlier this year and was sat next to a fat person he took up half my seat i was very annoyed! Retrospectively i should have asked him to pay for the half of my seat he was using!